Longview Man Gets 50 Years for Killing Estranged Wife

DALLAS (AP) – An East Texas man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his estranged wife in a Dallas parking garage. Court records show Ferdinand Glen Smith, 42, of Longview, pleaded guilty to murder in a plea deal. His wife, Karen Cox Smith, 41, was attacked in January while in a campus garage at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The victim worked at the complex. The Dallas Morning News reports the case helped lead to an effort by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to target domestic violence. Rawlings has said he was especially affected by the deadly attack, which occurred at the same hospital complex where his mother was treated for cancer.